SHOULD
CHRISTIANS DRINK?
Whether you
drink or not is up to you, your family, and your doctor. It is not up to your
pastor.
But doesn’t
the Bible say it’s wrong? Shouldn’t Christians abstain from things that harm
the body?
Does the
Bible say that?
Let’s look
at the question of alcohol from the horticultural point of view, then the
practical point of view, then the Biblical point of view.
HORTICULTURAL POV:
Many plants (grapes, rice, plum, apricot) contain yeasts and natural sugars. Yeasts are a fungus, a living plant that consumes the sugar and converts it to alcohol, a process called fermentation. These two ingredients along with water were a part of plants millions of years ago.
The
production of alcohol via natural fermentation is a God-ordained process not
something man invented. Scads of animals got a buzz eating fermented fruits
long before man came upon the earth. Witness, the mockingbirds today that get
looped on fermented pyracantha berries.
The
grapes that were grown in the Jordan Valley in Jesus’ day where the soil is
rich and sunshine abundant would have been stomped in big vats right there. As
soon as this juice drained into a jug it began to ferment, albeit very slowly
at first.
When I made
wine in college (I should have been studying) after about 28 days, the
alcohol content reached 12-14% and the yeasts died . . . Cirrhosis of the fungus
liver, I suppose.
Back in Palestine, the
jugs were taken to the marketplace where they continued to ferment. By the time
they were purchased and stored at home for a couple of weeks, it was full blown
wine. This wine could have been stored and used over many months.
Since grape
harvest is only a month or so each year and Bible people had wine year-round,
it’s safe to say that it was fermented wine that would not spoil. Refrigeration
and pasteurization were not invented yet. Fermentation was the natural process
for preserving a liquid.
PRACTICAL
POV:
It just
wasn’t practical to drink water during Jesus’ day. Most of the river waters had
germs. Animals stomped around in the rivers and dropped cattle pies and sheep
balls. And these swift moving streams were often muddy due to the sparsely
planted and dusty banks. Waters collected at rivers were often strained and boiled
and used for cooking.
Well water
wasn’t that much better. Many wells were too shallow and became easily
contaminated with dirt. There were exceptions, of course, e.g. the deep well cut
through stone that Jacob built, the same well where Jesus met the Woman of
Sychar. And there was the well near the gate at Bethlehem that King David loved
to drink from. These waters were pure and clean and cold as opposed to most of
the other wells
Milk from goats, camels, and sheep soured quickly. From a practical POV, with no refrigeration and pasteurization, wine, purified by the alcohol, was the only drink of the day that was refreshing, and safe to drink.
While we are at it, it should be said that hard liquor, when mixed with a chaser or mixer, and a pint of beer, has about the same alcohol content and are usually drunk at the same pace as a glass of wine. So I see no alcoholic distinction in these beverages.
BIBLICAL
POV:
Daniel, one
of God’s greatest prophets, was obviously a wine drinker when he abstained for
three weeks during a mourning period (Daniel 10:3).
Isaiah the
great Messianic prophet said that it is not good to begin drinking early and
consistently and continuing all day until you become inflamed (Isaiah 5:
11,22). The implication being that it is OK to drink later and in moderation.
The wise
(and wealthy) King Solomon said to give wine to those with heavy hearts to make
them forget their poverty and misery (Proverbs 31:6-7). These words may have
come from Solomon’s mother the promiscuous Bathsheba who probably “knocked back
a few” herself from time to time.
Paul, the
author of half of the New Testament, said it doesn’t matter what you eat or
drink as long as you don’t lose sight of God (I Corinthians 10: 31). He urged
Timothy to drink a little wine because it is good for your stomach and frequent
infirmities (I Timothy 5: 23).
Jesus agreed
in saying it is not what goes into our mouth that defiles us but what comes out
(Mark 7: 15)
The
disciples drank a few, too. (Luke 5: 33). Jesus told them not to be so drunk or
caught up in the things of life that they are not ready for his coming (Luke
21: 34). Apparently Jesus had seen them with a few too many.
Jesus no doubt drank wine also. He was accused of eating and drinking with publicans and sinners (Luke 5: 30). At his Last Supper (a Passover feast) there were four cups of wine drunk. Jesus turned down the fourth cup saying it represented his blood (Matthew 26: 29). It is the cup we (Christians) drink at communion. At one point the Pharisees even called Jesus a wine bibber (Matthew 11:19).
After Jesus becomes
an adult and up to the week of his arrest he no doubt returned to Jerusalem
every spring for the Passover. And during these times he would have drunk the
four cups of wine.
CONCLUSION:
In
light of these and so many more references to the use of wine found in the
Bible, why do we Christians continue to call the proper, moderate, and social
use of wine (and similar alcoholic beverages) sinful and still insist that the
first miracle Jesus performed was to turn 160 gallons of water into unfermented grape juice, the kind that
could not ferment at all during the week-long wedding feast at Cana? If that is
the case, then Jesus’ miracle is much grander than we thought. But alas, it was
wine. The governor of the feast said it was the best wine there (John 2: 9-11).